“Hello.” Dr. P caught Orion on his way back. He had been walking back and forth listlessly before Orion caught his eye. He was muttering some things under his breath, but they didn't sound very coherent.

“What's up?” Orion examined him carefully, he seemed unwell.

“Oh. Hi.” Dr. P seemed unprepared for the interaction despite starting it, “I’m not sure, when did you get here?”

“Did something happen?” Orion tried to make sense of his strange behavior.

“I don’t know. I think… She might be dead now.” He said somberly.

“Who?” Orion asked.

“I don’t know.” Dr. P looked around nervously. “I don’t know. I don't… I have to leave.”

“Wait, what are you talking about? Come back.” Orion tried to stop him, but he wasn't listening.

“I have to leave.” He said again before he was completely out of earshot.

“Dr. Levitas was executed.” Ricky informed him. “Based on the information we have, both him and two other people were present. He's likely in shock.”

“He seemed a lot more confused than that.” Orion said.

“I have an update. The other two are exhibiting similar…  symptoms.” Claire said, “Did anything else seem off to you Orion?”

“He was nervous about something, but it looked like he was struggling to remember anything.” Orion explained. “I have a theory but there’s not enough information to work with.”

“Stay in your room for now until we get more details.” Claire ordered. “I have a bad feeling about this.”

“Yes ma’am.” He responded.

“Yeah… and like so what if you have more than half the building on your side, standing up to Phalaris like that was a mistake.” One of the Lambda scientists was chatting with someone just outside the living quarters.

“What was that?” Orion asked.

“Levitas and co. are finally getting axed. It has nothing to do with you though, you're still the favorite anyway.” She said casually checking her nails.

“Excuse me?” Orion didn't really know how to respond to that.

“My God you should have heard her, she really thought the president had her back. Like, it's not like, the president would ever go against him, he coddles that man like he's being blackmailed.” The other scientist laughed. “The only thing I’m worried about is how long it's going to take to restaff after he's done weeding them all out.”

Orion groaned in a feigned agreement.

“Oh yeah, almost all of the Eta lab is getting purged isn't it, good luck managing that solo.” They laughed for a bit then went on their way back to the Lab.

Orion couldn't help but realize why Dr.P had been so open about his opinions after overhearing that exchange. Clearly they did think they had the numbers to do something about it, unfortunately numbers didn't matter nearly as much as they'd expected.

But if more than half were these traitors, the remaining amount would be a number of Spectra Operatives and however many people were actually loyal to BioPort.

Orion was just about to close the door behind him when a young man forced his way into his room. He was a blonde man with green eyes and a lean but muscular build, the uniform he was wearing was of one of the Eta subjects.

“What now?” Orion asked him.

“I’m really sorry about this, but could you please hide me?” He begged.

“What makes you think I’d be willing to?” Orion growled.

“My sister said you could be trusted.” The man said, he began searching for some sort of ventilation but the only one he found was far too small for him to fit through. “You don't feel like the others do anyway.”

“This isn't exactly the best time to-“ Orion stopped himself.

“I’m the only one left who knows you by name, so don't worry about it.” He assured him.

“What do you mean, what happened?” Orion asked.

“Just please don’t tell them where I am.” He begged again.

“I won’t, but I don’t think I can hide you or anything.” Orion said looking around at the mostly empty room.

“That's fine. I’ll figure it out.” He said continuing to look around the room, but it was mostly barren much like a cheap hotel room. It didn't even have a closet to speak of.

“Orion, I didn’t hear the door lock.” Claire warned, but she noticed a moment too late.

“Shit.” Orion went towards the door, as he did there was a faint knock. He didn't have enough time to try to lock it manually.

The door swung open; Orion just barely avoided getting hit by it. Phalaris, it was clear who he was after.

“Is that brat in here?” He asked.

Orion stared at him silently. Cautiously trying to keep tabs with his foresight, but there were far too many ways this could end poorly.

“I could’ve sworn I saw him head this way.” He muttered to himself. “Mind if I take a look inside?”

“I do mind actually.” Orion stated firmly.

“That's a formality, you don't have a choice.” He barged into the room and pushed Orion out of the way almost knocking him over.

Despite the lack of hiding space, the runaway subject was nowhere to be seen. Orion couldn't help but wonder how he managed to hide in such a place.

“God damn it! That fucker got away again.” He yelled.

Orion kept himself out of the way. It didn't matter what he did, Phalaris was enraged and any sort of motion on his part would end poorly.

Unlike what would have happened had he been caught in the off-limits area; Phalaris didn't seem to possess whatever anti-shadow capabilities he had prior. So, at the very least his life wasn't at risk here.

“I guess he's not here.” He snarled. He locked eyes with Orion for a moment. As soon as he did so Orion’s foresight started spiraling out of control with negative outcomes. “Well that's a darn shame for you now isn't it?”

Orion wasn't sure what it was, but for some reason Phalaris changed his mind in that moment. Did he breathe too heavily? Did he make a sound that pissed him off somehow? Was his expression incorrect? Orion had no way of knowing what it was, but he knew he would no longer get out of this interaction unscathed.

“You distracted me.” He said blocking Orion off from the doorway. Orion looked around carefully for anything he could use, the pens couldn't be used as a weapon, he would be overpowered if he chose a blunt object. He didn't have the resources to fight back. “He got away because of you. You're going to be punished in his stead.”

“What does that have to do with me?” Orion asked snidely, still trying to hold onto a confident demeanor. But it was quickly knocked out of him with a swift punch in the face. He dropped to the ground.

“Come on. I didn't hit you that hard.” He laughed.

“Shit.” Orion held his nose which was now quite bloody.

“You're shadows only react when you’re about to die, huh?” He pulled Orion up by the hair. “Imagine the experiments we can do with that.”

Orion tried to get up to his hands and knees but started losing his consciousness. He wasn't expecting to take the punch so poorly, but at least Phalaris would lose interest for the time being.

“It's no fun if you're not going to react.” He said dropping him back to the floor. He slammed the door shut, but Orion could tell he hadn’t left the room.

Everything after that was a blur.